First Laugh Welcome, Baby! By Rose Ann Tahe and Nancy Bo Flood –ADVISABLE

First Laugh Welcome, Baby! By Rose Ann Tahe and NancyBo Flood, illustrated by Jonathan Nelson.  PICTURE BOOK. Charlesbridge. 2018. $17.00. 9781580897945

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3)  –ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

At its most basic this is a story is about a family trying to make their baby laugh. But this story is about a Navajo family and one of their very special traditions. The first person that gets the baby to laugh gets to host the First Laugh Ceremony.  So all the family members happily persist through home and travel. Features stunning illustrations.

The illustrations in this book are top notch, bright, vivid and carefully crafted! I would add this story to my library in a heartbeat –both for the Navajo cultural aspect (one of the authors is Navajo) and for the cultural traditions surrounding babies (many more from other cultures are listed in the back of the book). I didn’t list this book as essential only because the Navajo tribe is local to my state, and perhaps librarians in other parts of the country may want to focus on the tribes in and surrounding their own state.

Reviewer: Stephanie MLS & Author.